Happy Birthday Allison

My baby girl is 1 year old!! May 15th 2009 I gave birth to our little precious princess pipsqueak! We celebrated all weekend of course. On her actual birthday we went to El Dorado Park with Paul's family. We enjoyed a picnic and went on the choochoo train. The kids had a fun time playing with their cousins Matthew, Natalie and Lexie. We went back home for naps and then over to Paul's folks house for dinner and more play time. We had a yummy Barbeque and birthday cake.

The next day May 16th was the big shindig. We had the bouncy house people drop off the luau bouncer at 8:00am and everyone arrived by 11:00. We had a ton of people and little Allison was as cute as can be. She had her little hula monkey outfit on and a flower in her hair. We all played in the bouncy house, Paul Barbecued cheeseburgers in paradise, had cake and opened presents. Allison loved her cake and that is probably an understatement. She got her own little cake to go crazy with and that is just what she did! She was pretty much throwing it in her mouth!
She received a lot of really nice gifts. Andrew picked out a pink car for her and Paul and I purchased her very own ladybug bean bag chair as well as a princess camping chair that she can bring to the beach. Overall we all had a great time. Allison fell asleep in Grandma Duck's arms for about 45 minutes and then she woke up to play some more.
I cannot believe my baby girl is 1 year old. It has been a great year.She has truly blossomed into a little girl with a sweet and silly personality. She is pointing at things and running all over the place and she loves to push her and her brother's cars all around the house. Whenever she hears music she starts to dance with a smile on her face, but the second you acknowledge her dancing she gets shy and tucks her little face behind something. Her favorite game is peek-a-boo. She plays it all the time. She will put her blanket or a wipey over her face and then pull it down with a big grin. Allison has brought so much joy and laughter to our lives. I can't wait to watch her grow into a 2 year old!

Life in Kaanapali

The kids slept in! Yeah! 0730 was our wake up time yesterday. We had a quiet morning in the condo while Paul took care of some work stuff. I got the kids ready to go to the beach and once Paul was done we headed down to "our" beach in front of our condo. It really is the best beach we have been to. There are no waves, it is shallow, there is great snorkeling just 100 yards down the water and there is plenty of shade. We settled in to our shady spot on the sand and Andrew started his fort, Allison enjoyed watching the birdies. I went for a swim in the warm turquoise water and Paul played with the kids. Then it was Paul's turn and I stayed on the shore with the kids. We must have played for a couple of hours. Allison didn't eat any sand and Andrew made friends with 2 little girls on the beach. When it was time for lunch we packed up our toys etc and headed to the condo or "new home". I gave the kids a quick shower while Paul made lunch. We were all starving. Allison ate a huge slice of pizza and Andrew ate a whole slice plus a fruit cup. The kids went down without a peep and I went to the pool, while Paul played his computer game. I laid out and read a book that was left here in the room called "Here today, gone to Maui". It is an easy read and I got pretty into it. I sat in the pool and read and laid on the lounge chair and read. Before I knew it Paul was on our balcony calling me in. It had been 2.5 hours that I had been out there. The kids slept the whole time!

We took our time getting ready for dinner. Andrew wore his new tiki guy shirt with matching shorts and Allison wore the dress that my parents bought her on their trip to Mexico. We took the trolley into Whaller's village and had dinner at the Aloha Grill. It was right on the water and they had 2 guys playing the guitar and singing throughout dinner, which Andrew loved of course. Paul and I ordered cocktails, me a Mai Tai and Paul a Blue Hawaiian. Andrew got a mango smoothie. We enjoyed a very nice dinner and made our way over the stage area of Whaller's village where they do a hula show in the evenings. We did a little shopping before the show. Allison got a little Hawaiian girl dolly with a lei around her neck and Andrew picked out a tractor.

When the show started Andrew and Allison were both intrigued by the dancers. It held their attention for about 15 minutes and then they were done. It made us feel good about our decision to not do a luau. We didn't want to pay all that money to have them get bored only 20 minutes into a 2 hours show. Thankfully the trolley runs every 20-30 minutes and when we walked over to the trolley stop there was one coming up to pick us up. We got home around 800pm. Since Allison didn't eat much, I brought out the left over noodles from dinner the other night from the Aloha mixed plate restaurant. She inhaled the noodles. She looked so cute in her little Mexican dress bending over and squatting down to pick up noodles and then slurp them up. Then Andrew started eating the noodles. The stayed up an extra 30 minutes just eating the noodles. We had some good laughs and tickles then PJs then bed time. Paul and I stayed up watching trashy reality TV and then went to bed. Life is tough :)

Mother's Day in Maui

Happy Mother's Day!
This morning Andrew and i went for a walk called grandma bug to wish her a happy mother's day. We had a great conversation and walked along the beach. We came back to an awake Allison and daddy. We cooked breakfast burritos and ate on the balcony, which Allison loved because she got to watch the birdies. We had no plans for the day so we went to the lobby to get some brochures. We saw one for a submarine ride. It is actually a partial submarine. The top part was available to go outside at any time. We thought the kids might get a kick out of this so we called and booked 4 seats on the 1100 ride. We packed ourselves up and headed to Lahina. We got there a few minutes early and walked round the craft fair that was under the big Banyon tree. (I still can't get over this tree). When it was our turn to get on the submarine we climbed down under into the cabin. There were windows everywhere and it was air conditioned and spacious, thank goodness! We "set sail" and headed off. Allison was quite bored and preferred to walk around rather than sit in one place. We drove for about 20 minutes and then stopped. They sent 2 divers into the water. There were about 3 type of fish that stayed with us and swam around the windows. Andrew was super excited at first, but he was more excited when the divers swam by. The divers would go find things and bring it up to the window to show everyone. This is when Allison started to get excited. She was bouncing up and down and pressing her nose up to the glass. It was so cute! Andrew's attention was held for about 30 seconds at a time, he was more interested in playing with the 2 little Russian boys that were right about his age. It was really funny because all 3 little boys were talking all at once to each other, the 2 Russian kids had accents and it was hard to tell if they were speaking English or not. Andrew had fun though. Once we were done and heading back into shore, we decide to go up top and get some fresh air. Allison seemed to like it, but Andrew just wanted to walk around, which obviously made me a nervous wreck, so I happily forced him to sit by me. Once we were on dry land, we walked over to Cheeseburgers in Paradise and had lunch. Our table was right on the water. The waves were crashing right under us. We left and came home and put the kids down for a nap and I too fell asleep on the couch.
When the kiddos woke up from their nap we went down to "our" beach. This was my #2 most favorite moment of our trip. We built a huge fort in the sand and put both kids in it. We went swimming and played for a couple of hours. We decided to stay and watch the sun set. We all sat on the shore line and let the waves come up and splash on us. Allison was in her little bikini and looked ridiculously cute. Andrew loved his fort and then the waves were about to crash on us, he would run back and jump/dive into his fort to stay dry, even though he was soaked from head to toe. The people from our hotel and neighboring hotels were all starting to make their way to the beach to watch the sunset. They were all dressed for dinner and looking sharp and here we were covered in sand, laughing and sun burned. We had a great time. We watched the sun slip into the water and decided it was time to go start cooking dinner since it was practically the kids bedtime and we were still swimming in the ocean.
I showered the kids while Paul made a special mother's day dinner of bratwurst, corn on the cob, and broccoli. It was a wonderful dinner and a wonderful mother's day. We had ice cream sandwiches for dessert and put the kids to bed.

Quiet Day

I woke up not feeling good yesterday and it turned out to be my turn to get sick. Bummer! I managed to do a load of laundry with Andrew by my side at 0700 in the morning. We had another bonding morning over dirty clothes. Once Paul and Allison woke up we made breakfast in the condo and then I went back to bed and slept until the kids woke up from their nap around 2:30. We packed up suites and towels in hope to maybe find a new beach heading west towards Napili. Instead we found a playground on the beach. Andrew screamed he was so happy! We let the kids play on the slides and swings for quite some time. Andrew was in his glory and I was feeling better. Allison enjoyed her time on the swings and had fun crawling through the tunnels.
We continued our drive up the cost and stopped at an open house. This vacation home was 8 bedrooms and 9,000 square feet, and was situated along the water and was selling for $14.9 million. The house was so big that they couldn't open it up during the open house because it would take too long to show, so they only show the guest house which is connected to the house by an upstairs walkway over the driveway. The guest house was a million times nicer than our house. The realtor was very kind and we were able to walk the grounds.... someday maybe someday.
We went back to our condo changed and then headed for this restaurant call ed Aloha mixed plate. It was quite yummy. We dinned on the patio overlooking the water of course and with lots of plants and lush greenery around us. Andrew and Allison ate their whole dinner and had a lot of fun. We had many laughs with the both of them and nobody got sick!!!
After dinner we strolled along the waters edge and watched the sunset. It was quite beautiful and we got some great pictures. Our hope is to drive the road to Hana tomorrow. Let's hope we all wake up feeling good!

This is the life

Yesterday Andrew woke up at the predictable 0600. Instead of watching a marathon of Oswald, I decided to take him for a walk. There is a wooden boardwalk that runs along the front of the Kaanapali hotels. We walked down a little bit and came back to our condo's grassy area that over looks our little beach. We laid on the lounge chairs and called both Grandmas to let them know what we have been up to. Andrew told them about the flowers and birdies and the ocean. We had a nice stroll just the two of us and then headed back to the condo to wake up Paul and Allison. We decided to go to the Pioneer Inn for some seaside breakfast. I had the famous macadamia nut pancakes and Paul had Hawaiian sweet bread french toast. Andrew scarfed down his pancake in the shape of Mickey Mouse and I think Allison ate her weight in pancakes as well. We walked around the Banyan tree park again and I did a little shopping in Lahina. We purchased Andrew a tiki guy shirt with matching shorts. He was pretty excited and started singing the tiki room song. So stinking cute!
Once we got back to the condo we decided to go down to "our" beach in front of the condos and went snorkeling. The water was so crystal turquoise and the sun was beating down with the trade winds blowing down the beach. Paul went out snorkeling first while Andrew, Allison and I played in the sand. Then it was my turn to go snorkeling. It was so beautiful! There is a reef bout 100 yards down the beach where there was a decent amount of fish. There were practically no waves which made getting in and out of the water easy. I spend quite some time just floating and watching the fish go by. When I was done, I bought Andrew into the water with me. We played in the little waves and looked for seashells. Every time we would find a seashell Andrew would say "Papa Razi would like this one!" We played and swam and built sandcastles and we all had a great time.
Beach time was over and it was time for lunch. I made super yummy sandwiches with Maui grown tomatoes and avocados. I put the kids down for a nap. They are now used to their beds and go down without a problem. Once the kids were asleep I went back down to the beach while Paul played his computer game and stayed with the kids. I laid down on my towel and drank a beer and just watched the world go by. It was fabulous weather and I went for a long swim and floated on my back watching the clouds linger in the sky. I sat on the shore and let the waves come up and splash on me. I literally was living the song "I've got my toes in the water and ass in the sand, not a care in the world and a cold beer in my hand, life is good today". I went into the spa for about 15 minutes and then made my way back to the condo to take a shower, just in time for the kids to wake up. We all got dressed and went for a walk down the boardwalk looking for the Sheratin hotel to see the torch lighting and cliff diving ceremony. We actually ended up walking 1.5 miles (we later clocked it) in the wrong direction and ended up taking he bus back passed our condo to the Sheratin at Whaler's village just in time for the ceremony to start.

We sat at the best table at the Sheratin's pool and ordered some cocktails since we didn't have to drive. Andrew even got a mango smoothie. We watched the man light all of the torches along the cliff and then he jumped off the cliff into the water. Andrew's favorite part was the band playing the ukulele. He was dancing with his shades on and turning everyones heads. We walked back to Whaler's village to the Aloha Grill and had a great dinner at the "waterfall table". We sat at a table with a waterfall all to ourselves. Andrew was in a mood to say the least, but after a walk with daddy, he came back to the table apologized and ended up having a great meal.
After dinner we walked passed a band playing and Andrew and Allison held hands and were dancing. It was definatly a great moment that we got on film. It was very precious! We walked around Whaler's village where all of the high-end shops are and then hopped back on the "trolly" bus and went back to the condo just in time to get jammies on and into bed.

It's just another day in Paradise

Yesterday we got a great night sleep, both kids slept well. Andrew woke up at 0600 which I can handle. Allison and daddy cuddled in bed together snoring until about 0800. We packed up our loot and headed out of town to Iao Valley to see the Iao needle. I had no idea what to expect but it is apparently the most photographed place in all of Maui for a reason. It was a short 30-40 minute drive and it lead us quickly into the lush rain forest looking land with huge steep mountain tops and cliffs everywhere. We parked our car and took the trails down through the little waterfalls and then took the big staircase up to the top where there was a great view of the needle. It is a huge steep rock that is 1250 feet straight up and was used as a look out point during battles. It was quite breathtaking. We spent an hour or more climbing along the trails and walking down the stream and were lucky enough to be crossing the small little bridge over a waterfall just in time to see some crazy local Hawaiian jump off the bridge into the small water hole that leads down into a shallow stream. I was so afraid he wasn't going to come out of the water alive, but I guess he knew what he was doing. We left Iao Valley and went into the little town of Iao and had lunch at the most popular noodle place in all of Maui (according to our tour book). And by the looks of the restaurant, I think they were right. We were by far the only tourists in the place and there was a line out the door. We had an excellent lunch of dry noodles, beef, chicken and rice. So amazing. Andrew and Allison had a lot of fun, but I am afraid not too much eating was done. About 5 minutes after we got into the car, Andrew got sick. So once again we were peeling off his clothes and busting out the baby wipes to clean him up. We are getting pretty good a cleaning up little kid "Yack" as Paul calls it.
Once we got Andrew all cleaned up he said "should we go get some ice cream?" He is the best at Puke and Rally :) So we found the most popular sherbet store (once again according to our tour book). And it too proved to be correct. It was inside a little mini mart place and the locals buy the sherbet by the quart to fly over to their friends on the other islands. We each got a big serving of the most delicious pineapple and strawberry sherbet we have ever had. We ate it at the Maui Mall, a large outdoor shopping center. We took the kids into a Fun zone and let Andrew play a few games and rest his belly before we strapped him back into the car.

We planned on napping the kids in the car so we could do a little side trip and drive along the coast to go see a "Garden of Eden view" that our tour book recommended. Thankfully the kids cooperated and the fell fast asleep. Which was a good thing. The tour book described the road we were about to go on as windy and they recommended honking your horn around the corners because it becomes very narrow. Well they weren't kidding. The road was along the clifftops about the ocean and it started off pretty innocent until the state highway came to an end and it was a little one land road that sure enough was so windy that you had to drive 5mph and honk your horn around the turns because you couldn't see the cars coming around the corner. So Damned Scary! I was a nervous wreck. What our book neglected to tell us about were all the locals that fly down the road and don't care about the tourists in their rental cars with sleeping kids in the back. Well with God looking out for us we made it to the view point and looked down only to see a massive waterfall that cascaded down into a stream that lead to another waterfall. It truly was magical and I am happy we made the trip.

The kids soon woke up and we listened to Allison cry for about 20 minutes while Andrew yelled "STOP CRYING BABY!" It just made up laugh. Gotta love our kids. We made it back to the condo about 6:00pm just in time to go for a quick dip in the pool and then have dinner at "our new house". Both kids are getting used to their beds, Allison in her crib and Andrew in his "fort" AKA the closet :)

Eating Sand, A Tough Lesson

Well Day #2 in Maui proved to be a tough and beautiful day. We woke up at 0530, yes, 0530. Because that is 0830 California time and that is what time Andrew and Allison's time clocks tell them. We played in our "new home" as Andrew likes to call it for a couple of hours had breakfast and headed to the beach. We were surprised that we weren't the first ones there at 0830 in the morning. We spread out our blankets under the shade of a huge palm tree and played in the sand. Andrew was scooping up the sand and "tutending" (aka pretending) it was ice cream. We were having a great time until Allison saw up pretending to eat the sand and she got confused and actually took fist fulls of sand and put it in her mouth! It was awful! I quickly rushed her to the showers and rinsed her off and cleaned out her mouth as best as I could. After that we stuck the Binky in her little mouth and she didn't make that mistake again.
Andrew and Paul went swimming in the ocean. It was crystal blue and the waves were small but strong. They played in the water and looked for seashells. Every time Paul would find a pretty one he would give it to Andrew and Andrew would quickly throw it into the water never to be found again. It was pretty funny :)

After playing in the water and on the sand for a couple of hours we walked along the trail back to our hotel and showered off and went into the pool. We brought the kids over to the jacuzzi and took turns going in for a dip and even let Andrew put his feet in the warm water and he said "Ahhh this is life" (as in this is the life). I don't know where he gets this stuff from but Paul and I had a great time laughing at the little dude.

We went back to our "new house" and had lunch. Corndogs, Paul's choice. And what is amazing is Paul said that Maui corndogs don't have calories. If only that were true. We put the kids down for a nap and surprisingly they both slept for close to 2 hours and so did I. I slept on our balcony on the lounge chair overlooking the palm trees swaying and the pool. What a life.
We then got ready and headed to Lahaina to do some shopping and eating. There we saw the United States largest Banyan tree. It was amazing! He toured the old jail that hosted numerous whalers and took a bunch a gorgeous pictures of the kiddos in front of the water. We were walking around a store when all of a sudden Allison threw up everywhere! We quickly cleaned her up and took her clothes off. We went back to the car to head home when she threw up again. Except this time she threw up a lot of sand! Poor baby fell right asleep and we made it home in time for bath and dinner. We cooked pasta, Allison's favorite and that seemed to make her feel much better. She returned to herself again. I think she ate way too much sand earlier. Thankfully both kids went to sleep right away and Paul and I were able to lounge in the living room, Paul playing a computer game and I read our tour book.